Transportation is the largest Ecotech segment, with $58 billion (up 281%) invested in fiscal year 2021 i.e. between July 2020 and June 2021. The companies of this segment are engaged in improvement of batteries and technologies for electric vehicles: Lucid Motors, a Silicon Valley startup developing luxury electric cars, which raised $6.9 billion last fiscal year; Northvolt, a Swedish battery maker which managed to raise $3.4 billion for production of lithium-ion batteries; and Ample ($24.5 million investment), an American company using autonomous robotics and artificial intelligence to power electric cars.
Agriculture and food processing are the Ecotech second largest segment: the companies in this sector raised the total of $10.7 billion in fiscal 2021, i.e. 132% more than a year before. The sub-sector leaders were American Bowery Farming, which raised $300 million for pesticide-free vertical farms; Mosa Meat, a Dutch food technology company which received $90 million from the investors for plant-based meat projects; and the Protein Brewery which was able to get $26 million for production of non-animal proteins for food products.
Energy is the third top segment where the investment volume has increased by 96% (to $8.2 billion). The leading players in this sector are American QuantumScape which attracted $780 million for the energy storage projects, as well as the Danish Green Hydrogen System producing electrolyzers for “green” hydrogen production, and Canadian Eavor Technologies which received $40 million for innovative solutions in construction of small geothermal power plants.
More than $1 billion was invested in CO2 capture, storage and transportation ($383 million) and the projects dealing with climate change management ($797 million). The largest companies representing these segments are Newlight Technologies which raised $45 million to convert greenhouse gases into thermoplastics, and Tomorrow.io which “collected” $172 million of investment for new solutions in weather forecasting. Meanwhile, investments in Ecotech were also drawn by the companies doing business in such sectors as manufacturing ($6.9 billion), construction ($1.4 billion) and housing ($1.2 billion).
The conclusions of the PwC experts correlate with the estimates of the International Energy Agency (IEA) according to which global investment in energy storage in 2021 rose by 29% (to $7.1bn) and by 75% (to $14.6bn). in production of low-carbon fuels. Investments in CO2 capture, storage and transportation have increased three and a half times over the same period, i.e. from $170 million to $600 million.
